


Better to Serve in Hell

by ciannwn, twitchbell



Category: Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Genre: Gen, Missing Scenes, back story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-18
Updated: 2011-12-18
Packaged: 2017-10-27 11:57:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,999
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/295606
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ciannwn/pseuds/ciannwn, https://archiveofourown.org/users/twitchbell/pseuds/twitchbell
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happened on Tatooine, from Darth Maul's perspective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Better to Serve in Hell

The desert night was cold as Darth Maul stepped out of his ship and activated the electrobinoculars.

Before his arrival he had checked the Infiltrator's data banks for information concerning the planet. The most relevant facts as far as he was concerned were that it was controlled by the Hutts, had three major settlements and he would be arriving there shortly before dawn on Boonta Eve, which was celebrated by a pod race in Mos Espa, the town where the majority of hardware traders were located. As the Queen's ship was known to have been damaged whilst breaking through the blockade around Naboo, it was more than likely that it would land in this vicinity in order for the crew to obtain the necessary replacement parts for repair. He knew he could not afford to take this for granted, however, so decided to send a probe droid to each town just in case the Jedi tried throwing pursuers off the scent by going to a place which seemed a less obvious choice.

He programmed the droids to alert him to the presence of Queen Amidala and those who had escaped with her, including a Gungan. Their images had been captured by the Theed hanger's surveillance system, confirming the two Jedi's identities as Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice, the Republic's ambassadors, who had apparently engineered the rescue after evading the Trade Federation's assassination attempt. Maul had no plans, as yet, concerning what he would do if the Jedi were located; this was a mission where he would have to improvise according to the needs of the moment.

Once the droids had headed off towards the clusters of lights and disappeared into the darkness, he returned to his ship. He had nothing to do now but wait and so he used the time productively in sleeping.

The fact that he awoke naturally informed him that none of the probes had succeeded in locating his quarry but almost immediately he became aware of a disturbance in the Force. It puzzled him because he expected Jedi to be more accomplished in masking their presence - but then, they could have no idea that a Sith was tracking them. Unfortunately, Maul was not able to pinpoint the Jedi's location but at least he now had confirmation that they were, indeed, on Tatooine. He did wonder why he had not sensed this when he had first arrived but logic suggested that as it had been at night, the one who was responsible had been asleep.

He then checked the transmissions from each probe in turn and discovered that despite the earliness of the hour, the towns' inhabitants were already up and about. This was hardly surprising seeing as the Boonta Eve Classic was being held later that day; those attending the race from the other two settlements were already setting off to watch the event while Mos Espa itself was preparing for the influx of visitors. No doubt the larger than normal amount of beings on the move made it more difficult for the probes to locate specific individuals.

Maul burned with impatience at the delay, yet he processed the information dispassionately, allowing none of the rage and frustration he was feeling to interfere with his analysis. There was a time for haste, and there was a time for patience. The Jedi would never appreciate the former but the Sith had a unique understanding of the latter. The Sith had been patient for millennia.

Even so he recognized that a lengthy period of waiting for results would be counter-productive. Not even a Sith could exist in a state of constant combat readiness without some depletion to mental stamina, and Maul knew that his mind was wound tight with an expectation and eagerness that could not be maintained indefinitely. He needed a diversion, and as he looked again at the droids' transmissions an idea presented itself.

He'd heard of pod-racing during a mission to Malastare, and had even seen some holocam footage of a particularly fast and furious race held there. The excitement generated by the speed and violence of the sport had attracted him enough for him to download details of podracers into the Infiltrator's databanks, justifying it on the grounds that some design features could perhaps be usefully incorporated into a prototype Sith vehicle that would be more advanced than the speeder.

He ate a hurried meal and then sent out one of his remaining probe droids to monitor the race. On returning to the control room, he followed its progress to the area and directed it to a place of concealment within one of the many rocky outcrops nearby; once the regular holocams were hovering in place he would send his droid to join them. Until then, he kept a watchful eye out for Jawas, Tusken Raiders or any other individuals who might be skulking around in the rocks by the arena and regarding his property as a target for scavengers' rights.

As the time of the race drew nearer, he sensed the disturbance in the Force heightening and now he was able to pinpoint its location as being somewhere in Mos Espa. This puzzled him. It was as if the person leaking his presence was anticipating the event and growing excited at the prospect, something which seemed highly unusual given what he knew of typical Jedi behaviour: becoming emotionally involved in a frivolous activity, particularly at such a critical juncture, went contrary to the Order's discipline. But then, he was dealing with Qui-Gon Jinn who, according to information he'd been given by Darth Sidious, was something of a maverick.

He decided to direct one of his probe droids to search the arena, making the reasonable assumption that someone excited at the prospect of a pod race would be attending it as a spectator. There was also the fact that if the disturbance did not originate with the Jedi, it was likely that they, too, had sensed it and would also be investigating its source.

\----------

Maul watched the before-race preparations via intercepted transmissions from the arena holocams on the grounds that the race officials would concentrate on the areas of most interest. There was a close-up of contestants as the commentator introduced them and he was astounded when he saw that one of them, Anakin Skywalker, was a human child. By all accounts, humans were not supposed to have the necessary reflexes for this sport.

Skywalker's participation had several possible reasons. One was that human inferiority in this respect was nothing but a story born of other species' prejudice but this was unlikely - humans, as a race, were not inclined to meekly accept such evaluations and there would be records of them participating successfully and proving such stories unfounded. Another possibility was that the child was being made to compete because his inevitable failure would 'prove' human inferiority; if so, whoever was behind it had a pressing need to publicly demonstrate this belief regardless of the cost of sacrificing such an expensive item as a pod. Should this be the case it suggested social undercurrents specific to Tatooine because each species had its own strengths and weaknesses and humans were neither superior nor inferior in this respect. The third possibility was that Skywalker was able to demonstrate exceptional abilities; if so, the disturbance in the Force which Maul had felt could centre around the boy. Lacking the discipline of either Sith or Jedi training it would be unlikely that the child knew how to mask his presence in the Force, and he probably had little or no idea of exactly what he was accessing.

Maul directed his original Mos Espa probe to use a long range scan on this particular contestant, ignoring the transmissions from the arena holocams, which had now moved on to record other things. Within minutes he saw the unmistakable figure of a Gungan by Skywalker's pod. At last he was making progress. Naboo's amphibious denizens were not space farers, therefore the Gungan's presence could indicate that some of the Queen's party were in the arena. With controlled excitement, he magnified the scene and was further rewarded by the sight of Qui-Gon Jinn lifting the child into the cockpit. The involvement of the Jedi strongly suggested that Skywalker was, indeed, the cause of the disturbance in the Force and Jinn had discovered this.

It was pointless leaving two probes to search the other settlements so he redirected them to investigate the outskirts of Mos Espa for the Queen's ship. He knew that the craft did not carry any form of land transport so he calculated the radius of their operations by how far a human could travel on foot. Then he directed his original Mos Espa probe to shadow Jinn - now that he had found the Jedi he had no intention of losing him - but Jinn joined the Gungan, and two human females on a viewing platform and was obviously set to watch the race. The other probe Maul set to track the race; that way, he could focus on exactly those parts of the race he was interested in.

It was inevitable that his attention would be drawn to Skywalker's performance, given Qui-Gon Jinn's involvement. Maul experienced a fleeting doubt as to the child's ability when Skywalker stalled his pod at the beginning of the race; for a moment it appeared as if humans were, indeed, being made to look foolish, but as Ben Quadinaros was also having the same problem it did not look good for the Toong species either. And then the small, blue pod eventually lurched forward, speeding swiftly after the other contestants, its juvenile occupant obviously not lacking in determination whatever his other skills might or might not be.

Within a short time Maul had been convinced that Skywalker really was the source of the disturbance in the Force. Even though it appeared to be no more than an instinctive channelling, the child was actively using it to help him in the race, gradually overtaking the pods that had taken a head-start on him. He was also skilful at avoiding the many hazards that complicated the course. Not only were there treacherous rock formations and canyons that the pilots had to negotiate, but Tusken Raiders were standing at one vantage point and amusing themselves by taking pot shots at the racers. And the other pods could be just as much of a danger to the unwary, whether it was because they had been crippled and were careering in flames all over the course, or because the pilot was intent on eliminating the opposition by deliberately ramming it into a canyon wall.

It seemed that no rule applied other than the survival of the fittest and most ruthless - this was a philosophy that Maul could relate to. As if his thoughts had taken on volition of their own, he found himself wondering how his life would have unfolded if Darth Sidious had not found him and chosen him as an apprentice. Like Anakin, he would still have had the potential to use the Force; could he, too, have learned to call on it instinctively? And what would he have done with it?

He had seen little of life before he had become Sidious's apprentice and, therefore, could not imagine what opportunities might have presented themselves to him had he been left on his home world. But he fancied that had the Sith Lord not recruited him he would have been drawn to something as exhilaratingly dangerous as pod racing because the necessary qualities had always been part of his nature; it was these very qualities, in fact, which Sidious had trained him to control and use at will.

Finally only Skywalker and the Dug, Sebulba, were left in the race which now became a duel, the Dug proving an especially dangerous opponent who would use any underhand tactic to win. Maul admired both his ingenuity and lack of scruples; there was little point in participating in a race if you weren't prepared to go all out to win it.

When Maul saw Skywalker's pod become entangled with Sebulba's much larger racer it seemed inevitable that the boy would lose the race and, most likely, his life along with it. But the young human seemed to reach deep within himself and tap into a new level of ability; against the odds it was Sebulba's pod which was flung to one side to make an undignified landing in the sand, leaving Skywalker's path to victory clear. He entered the arena for the last time to a thunderous applause although by no means all the spectators reacted with such fervour to this unexpected victory; no doubt these were the beings who had placed their bets on Sebulba and lost.

Briefly Maul envied the applause - he had spent most of his life in obscurity where his skills were unappreciated by anyone but Sidious, and his Master's praise was grudgingly sparse and hard won. Maul reminded himself that soon this would change - after all, he was the one chosen by the Dark Side to reveal that the Sith were not exterminated as the Jedi so naively assumed.

\----------

The race over, Maul refocused attention on his mission. He sent the droid that had been monitoring the race to join the others in searching for the Queen's ship and then followed Jinn's activities via the probe that he'd directed to follow him.

After descending to the starting grid to congratulate Skywalker, the Jedi made his way across the arena and up to a private box where he appeared to hold a discussion with a Toydarian. Knowing that Jinn's senses might alert him to the fact that he was being monitored, Maul did not dare send the probe to hover in the vicinity in order eavesdrop on the conversation. The best he could do was gamble on the fact that hover cams and surveillance driods were still in evidence throughout the arena and so neither of the beings engaged in their conversation were likely to suspect anything should they see the probe just passing by.

By this means he was able to overhear the Toydarian grudgingly say "Take him," It was not apparent to whom the Toydarian was referring but, given what Maul had observed, he could make a shrewd guess. He had little doubt that the 'him' in question was the focus of the Jedi's interest, Anakin Skywalker. The fact that the Toydarian was in a position to give the boy away meant that he was either his legal guardian or, more likely, that he was his owner and Skywalker was a slave. The Hutts did, after all, run a slave economy on Tatooine.

So, even in the midst of a dangerous mission the Jedi had thought it worthwhile to secure the child, for all that he was well past the age when initiates were taken to the Temple. It occurred to Maul then that the boy was not, of course, past the age when a Sith Lord might consider him a worthy apprentice. Or a _replacement_ apprentice.

Maul was not concerned when the probe lost Jinn in the crowd. If the Jedi had been given permission to take Skywalker he would undoubtedly be heading for the hangar where the boy had taken his pod. Maul decided it was too risky to send the probe into the hangar itself; there had been no transmissions from this building prior to the race and so it was unlikely that there were any holocams inside to mask the presence of an intrusive probe droid. The probe, therefore, was instructed to wait until Jinn exited the building with Skywalker.

Maul felt great satisfaction with how matters were proceeding. And then disaster struck.

Without any warning the probe stopped transmitting and, although he ran diagnostics and tried everything that he could think of, he was unable to bring it back online. Realising that he was wasting valuable time he redirected one of the probes searching for the ship to the malfunctioning probe's last location and another to search the town in case Jinn had, by this time, left with the boy. If this was the case, Maul could not be certain what Jinn's next move would be. There were two possibilities: replacement parts could have been acquired and may or may not have already been taken back to the damaged ship, or Jinn could still be trying to secure them. This element of uncertainty would make it difficult to locate his whereabouts, even when the search parameters were extended to include the other known members of his party and the fact that they might be in transit with hyperdrive parts.

Maul waited impatiently but as time passed it became obvious that the search was even more difficult than he'd anticipated. It seemed ironic that a group of beings that included a Gungan could melt into the background, particularly when they might be transporting bulky parts for a hyperdrive, but when the background in question was Mos Espa on a busy day it was understandable.

The narrow, twisting streets were thronged with individuals from both the Republic and the Outer Rim and amongst such a variety of bizarre beings even a Gungan would not be particularly conspicuous. Adding to the confusion was the behaviour of the beings themselves, many of whom had been getting drunk in the settlement's cantinas and were now either in a party mood or spoiling for a fight, presumably depending on how they viewed the results of the Boonta Eve Classic. Compounding the difficulty was the fact that a good proportion of the crowd was heading out of the town, not just to the other two settlements but also to the surrounding moisture farms, so if Jinn and his group were leaving Mos Espa and not taking either of the major routes across the desert, they would hardly be the only ones. And it also seemed that the majority of visitors had been shopping for various hardware during their visit because laden eopies, banthas and repulsor sleds were everywhere.

Maul seethed with frustration; through no fault of his own his initial success had turned to possible failure but he consoled himself with the thought that all was not lost yet. There was nothing he could do save wait in readiness for immediate action should circumstances turn once again his favour, and so he got his speeder ready. Then he stood outside the Infiltrator, monitoring the probes' audio transmission via his wristband comlink.

As time passed he could feel success slipping ever further beyond his grasp and then something quite unexpected happened.

A probe appeared on the horizon and sped in his direction, halting before him to report its findings. This was the droid that had malfunctioned outside the hanger. Unable to send any more transmissions it had continued with its surveillance and tracked Jinn and his group, accompanied by eopies pulling a repulsor sled, to the Naboo ship. Maul was on the point of despair at this because now they had what could only be the replacement parts they would leave Tatooine as soon as possible. And then he chided himself for premature despondency when he heard the end of the report - Jinn had set off to Mos Espa again, presumably to take back the animals and sled. The ship was unlikely to leave without him and the Jedi's return journey would have to be on foot unless he succeeded in hiring transport with a driver. This latter course seemed unlikely for two reasons. One was that they probably wished to leave as unobtrusively as they had arrived. The second was that if transport with drivers had been readily available on Boonta Eve it would have made more sense for them to arrange this the first time had they so wanted.

Now Maul knew the ship's location he was able to take action. Mounting his speeder, he headed off to complete his mission. He hurtled at breakneck speed, skimming dunes and negotiating drops and gullies with a wild exhilaration. Unlike Skywalker he consciously channelled the Force in his own race only his opponent was Time. Manoeuvring at a speed which would be beyond the abilities of any other than a trained Sith, he knew that he did not need to compete in a pod race to prove his superiority.

And yet, deep within himself, was a sense of something still lacking. There was no one to watch and marvel at his skill and daring.

\----------

The thrum of power from the newly revived engines was a clear indication that the Queen's ship was preparing for takeoff, awaiting only the arrival of Qui-Gon Jinn, and Anakin Skywalker who toiled along behind him.

Maul had only a few seconds to make a decision about his next course of action. The queen was undoubtedly aboard the ship, and on his speeder he could reach it before the Jedi. However he would hardly be permitted to board the ship without a struggle, and the idea of attempting to do so with a Jedi at his heels was not one that appealed to him. On the other hand, should he engage Jinn in single combat Maul knew that those on the ship would delay its launch once they realised what was happening. Even when the most obvious way to protect the Queen would be to take off immediately and fly her out of danger, Maul was certain that they would not do so while there was any chance of saving Jinn. The inability of the Jedi - and most other lifeforms - to detach their emotions from the stark realities of what was necessary for survival was one of their greatest weaknesses, and Maul would use it against them. Providing he incapacitated Jinn before help arrived from the ship, he could face his other adversaries on better terms. Still bound to protect the Queen, they would only send small groups against him - and in the desert where he could make best use of his superior strength and agility he would defeat them far more easily than in the close confines of a ship.

His choice made, Maul powered his speeder forward without any hesitation, fully intent on running Skywalker down, and not merely because the boy stood between Maul and the Jedi. The boy was a potential threat to his position if Sidious ever got to hear about him; removing him from the picture now was too good an opportunity to waste.

But unexpectedly Skywalker called out and as Qui-Gon Jinn turned to reply, he saw Maul bearing down on them. The Jedi shouted a warning, and Skywalker obeyed without hesitation - slave mentality, Maul thought scornfully - dropping flat on the ground as the speeder skimmed over him. No matter. Qui-Gon Jinn was his real target; an unarmed child could be disposed of later.

Maul's attempt to run down the child had made his hostile intentions perfectly clear, and Qui-Gon Jinn responded accordingly. He had plenty of time to draw his lightsaber and prepare to meet the attack. Maul knew that now he'd lost the element of surprise he would have to improvise. He had no time to safely ignite both blades of his lightsaber so, in an attempt to regain the advantage, he somersaulted from the speeder in a perfectly timed movement, the single blade sweeping down as he landed sure-footed on the sand.

The Jedi Master met the Sith's attack without hesitation, not thrown by this unexpected manoeuvre, and Maul found to his annoyance that the strength of his opponent's resistance gave him no chance to switch to double-bladed attack. Maul knew, however, that speed and agility were his strengths and he lost no opportunity in taking advantage of them. Jinn must have been a formidable warrior in his youth, but he was past his prime now and in spite of his ability it could only be a matter of time before the age difference between the combatants began to make a crucial difference.

A fury of heat and energy burned the air as their lightsabers clashed and the fight took shape as a twisting dance of movements. Maul revelled in the sequence of thrust, block, parry, turn and leap. The Force flowed strongly between both opponents, each using it to amplify abilities in his own way. But the Force could only enhance; it could not turn back time and restore the sharpness and speed of youth Jinn must have once possessed. A sheen of sweat masked his face now, and there was a look of strain in his eyes as the effort to match Maul's high level of performance began to take its toll. Maul's mouth widened in a snarl of pleasurable anticipation as he sensed the growing weakness of his prey.

Then a shadow appeared over the combatants and engines hissed as the ship was deftly manoeuvred into position above them. Before Maul realized what was intended, the Jedi leapt upwards and alighted squarely on the partially lowered landing ramp. The ramp began to retract as soon as he made contact with it, the ship angling upwards and away at the same time. In a matter of seconds Maul's mission was ended. And he had failed.

He stood on the sand, watching the ship vanish into the blue skies of Tatooine. Automatically he switched off his lightsaber. His body was still, but his mind raged in a furious tumult. He had not anticipated that the Jedi would choose flight rather than fight. He found the action utterly contemptible, but forced himself to examine the phenomenon with as much calmness as he could. He must know the reasons for his failure in order not to make the same mistake again.

When there was nothing more to be gained from analysis, he turned his attention to practical matters. The speeder had continued on its course and he needed to find and retrieve it before leaving Tatooine. Squinting his eyes against the desert glare, he turned to face the relevant direction and soon spotted a small patch of blackness against a dune a hundred or so yards away. This, indeed, proved to be the missing vehicle that had come to rest half buried in the sand and, having excavated it, he was relieved to discover that it still ran after a fashion. At least he would not have to walk back to his ship even though he would have to take a longer, but easier route, one that avoided obstacles the vehicle was no longer capable of tackling.

Once the speeder was returned to the Infiltrator's cargo bay, he made his way to the control room knowing that he had delayed the inevitable for as long as he could. Sidious had to be informed of the situation, a prospect that filled him with shame and dread for all his efforts to calm his thoughts and emotions. The Sith had come out of the shadows after millennia and he, the one who had been privileged to reveal their presence at last, had proved inadequate to the task.

He sent a coded signal to Sidious and then waited until his Master called him; Sidious's alternate persona had other duties and the Sith Lord could not always respond to Maul's request for contact immediately. This time, however, Maul had little waiting to do before the familiar blue hologram flickered into life before his gaze. Clearly Sidious was eager to receive news, and if he had been occupied elsewhere he must have quickly excused himself in order to take Maul's message as soon as possible.

"Well?" The voice was peremptory and harsh in its demand for information.

Maul forced himself to sound matter of fact. "They escaped, my Master."

"How?" Sidious's voice was cold and his tone as cutting as a knife.

Maul lowered his eyes, his whole demeanour that of a servant who knows he has failed. His report was clear and concise and included details about the boy whom the Jedi had taken with them; there was no point in trying to conceal this fact from his superior when he had myriad ways of acquiring information. All he omitted from his account was his attempt to kill Skywalker.

Then there was silence, a long and painful moment where Maul dared not move or speak for fear of quickening his Master's wrath.

"I do not reward incompetence," Sidious said, his voice softly lethal. "You have failed me, Lord Maul."

"I apologize, my Master. It will not happen again."

"Indeed it will not."

There was a dark promise in those words that chilled Maul to the bone. Were it not for the fact that vast distances separated master and apprentice, Maul knew full well that Sidious would have made him aware of the extent of his failure through more than just verbal admonishment.

"What are your instructions, my Master?" Maul asked humbly.

"The only action open to the Queen is to take her case to the Senate. I will deal with that." Sidious replied, his tone suggesting that he was planning a new strategy even as he spoke. "Meanwhile you will effect any necessary repairs and then position yourself within easy reach of both Coruscant and Naboo where you will wait for further instructions." Then anger returned to the Sith Lord's voice. "The Jedi must pay for this humiliation. _You_ , Lord Maul, will exact that payment with their blood."

"I shall, my Master." Maul had no doubts of his ability to fulfil this instruction, and in case it seemed to Sidious that he was indulging in inappropriate idle boasting, explained his reasoning. "The Jedi Master’s age is his weakness, while the apprentice is too young and inexperienced to be a threat on his own. If they come at me together then I will separate them, and eliminate them one at a time."

"See that you do, Lord Maul."

The blue hologram faded out of existence, but the menace behind Sidious's parting words remained to chill the air.

Maul knew that he could not afford to fail again and so immersed himself in following his Master's orders to the letter. He set his maintenance droids to the task of repairing the speeder and the malfunctioning probe whilst he plotted a course to a suitable planet between Coruscant and Naboo.

He took off from Tatooine and then engaged the auto pilot. He had no idea how long he would have to wait for further instructions from Sidious and so it was logical to rest during the journey in order to ensure that he would be functioning at his peak even if his Master sent him into action almost immediately he arrived.

He settled to sleep with customary ease; his early Sith training had taught him how to take opportunities for sleep as and when they presented themselves and the techniques were now as automatic to him as breathing.

\----------

 _He was in pursuit of a black podracer, accelerating after it through a high canyon._

 _The canyon walls were black and inset with windows and balconies, a dark and silent Coruscant inhabited only by the ghosts of ages past. The black podracer was still ahead and he climbed higher, willing his own vehicle into a burst of extra speed. Then he dropped altitude, his racer knocking his rival's aside in a smoothly executed manoeuvre. The hooded head turned towards him but there was no face, only a radiated presence, the Dark Force which all Sith had embodied through the centuries._

 _The black podracer hit a building and exploded in flames, leaving him in the lead. He knew then that there was nothing and no one who could catch him. For the first time in his adult life he flew free and unfettered, threading his way through the canyon of buildings without any need for conscious thought. A cold wind rushed past his face, his blood pounded in his ears._

 _Now he was abandoning the city, leaving the dark, empty buildings behind him and flying free towards a pale dawn as the sun rose, engulfing him in warmth and light._

 _And then he was hurtling across the great sandy desert of Tatooine towards the finishing line in Mos Espa, and people were cheering his name, his true name, the name he had all but forgotten._

 _He felt a savage joy as they recognized the achievements of his real self, his true self, the self that had become almost obliterated by Sith traditions and his Master's requirements._

\----------

Maul woke suddenly, drenched in a cold, unpleasant sweat, struggling for a moment to make sense of where he was. Of _who_ he was. The dream had been so vivid that it seemed no less tangible than the couch on which he rested, or the hull of the ship that surrounded him. The feeling of elation was still with him, and an inner voice screamed at him to be who he really was, to leave the Sith behind and fulfil his true destiny.

Then, gradually, the feeling of dissonance faded and the dream was relegated to its proper place as reason asserted itself. He told himself it was nothing more than a pointless fantasy, one that only came about because he had wasted valuable time watching pod racing when he would have been better employed in planning the Jedi's destruction. He had angered his master, and so in his dream had sought escape in an utterly impossible way. If he ever attempted to abandon the Sith Order, Sidious would track him down and kill him.

And would he really want to sacrifice all he had - and would - accomplish for a moment of transient glory anyway? Even a pod-race champion was known on just a handful of worlds, and the crowds were fickle, their attention soon caught by a new rising star. As a Sith Lord he had no such limitations. He would continue to develop his prowess until he had risen to be the head of the Sith Order. And his ultimate achievement would be to train his apprentice to defeat him so that even in death there would be victory; he would have ensured that his successor was worthy of taking his place. In contrast, a former pod racing champion would either finish up dead in a collision he no longer had the reflexes to avoid, or retire from the sport to live with nothing but memories of his past triumphs.

Maul was a Sith Lord, and the pain and privilege of that could hardly compare with the fleeting thrill of winning races. It might satisfy a slave child, but Maul was meant for greater triumphs; the hunger and fierceness that burned in him served the Dark Side of the Force – even at personal cost – for a greater purpose. Skywalker, the Jedi-to-be, would never understand the desires that drove the Sith. How darkness could be simultaneously feared and craved, how it could fill every waking thought and utterly consume the mind until no other choice remained but to follow where it led.

When it became known that a Sith Lord had killed the great Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice it would shake the Jedi Order to its very foundations. Then the name of Lord Maul, the instrument through which the Sith were revealed to the Jedi, would echo down through the years like a death knell. And as for the slave child who'd won a pod race and the protection of the Jedi, Maul's lip curled in brief amusement. Skywalker would have fared better as a Sith apprentice. Now he would meet the same fate as his Jedi masters.

Maul's reasoning had served to make him newly certain of his purpose, and he deleted the files on pod racers as no longer being of any importance. After all, his Sith name would live on in memory whilst the name of Anakin Skywalker would be utterly forgotten.

All doubt banished from his mind, Maul took his place at the Infiltrator's controls to await further orders.

THE END

**Author's Note:**

> While writing this story we came up against questions concerning Maul's behaviour on Tatooine - eg: Why didn't he search for the Naboo ship first because he could have kept the route between it and Mos Espa under surveillance? This would have been a more logical course of action than sending a probe round the town's streets to scan thousands of beings. Also, the probe detects Qui-Gon immediately after the race when he's talking to Watto and apparently has to return to Maul in order to deliver the information. This suggests a serious design fault - surely the sensible arrangement would have been for the probe to transmit the quarry's location and continue surveillance? Finally, Maul doesn't reach the Naboo ship until after (1) Qui-Gon, Amidala, R2D2 and Jar Jar have returned with the replacement drive (2) Qui-Gon has gone back to Mos Espa to collect Anakin (3) Qui-Gon and said small boy have nearly got back to the ship on foot and (4) Obi-Wan and company have had enough time to replace the faulty drive so the ship is ready for takeoff. We've tried to take these problems into account, but if this story still reads in places like we're skating round plot holes it's because we are – only they're George Lucas's plot holes, not ours. :-)


End file.
